Oil thief



0. w. PEARCE Nov. 15, 1932.

OIL THIEF Filed Dec. 25, 1930 the trade as oil thieves. I

the walls thereof.

Patented Nov. 15, 1932 oscnn w. PEARCE, or Los ANGELES, cALironirIA OIL THIEF Application ne'a December 25,1980. serial No.5oa6s7.

This invention relates to devices for taking 7 samples of the liquid contents of a container, devices of this general class, when intended for taking samples of oil, being known n An object of-the invention is the provision of an improved and simplified oil thief wherein various refinements of construction are 11 1 corporated to avoid to as great an extent as is practically possible agitation V of the liquid of which a sample is being taken, and. thereby obtain a sample which is truly representative of the contents of actuated. I

Another object is to provide means for 1n-. dicating to an operator when he has'lowered the oil thief to a predetermined distancefrom the bottom of the tank, thereby enabling him to actuate the sampler before it has been lowered into the sludge which is frequently pre-v sent at the'bottom of such containers as oil storage tanks. I

. A furtherobject is to provide an oil thief as described, having improved and simplified actuating means therefor,-whereby release of the detent holding the sampler inoperative is effected through the expedient of a trip in the form of a tube slidably mounted upon the means whereby the thief is lowered into the container. This eliminates the necessity of employing more than one cord or equivalent element which must be handled by the operator in lowering the oil thief and actuat a still further object'is to provide means for positively drawing fluid into the barrel of the oil thief and for .positively'expelling the fluid therefrom after the device hasbeen removed from the container. In this connec-' tion, the expelling means is adapted to efiiciently wipe the interior surface of the barrel 8 and thereby avoid the danger of contaminating a'later sample with material adhering to The invention possesses other objects and advantageous features, some of which, with those enumerated, will be set forth in the following description of the inventions particular embodiment which is illustrated in the container in theparticular locality within which the oil thief IS the drawing accompanying and formin'g a part of-the specification.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. liis a vertical sectlonal view taken through an oil tank, and showing an oil thief incorporating the principles of the present invention, disposedtherein in 'positiongready to be released.

1 Fig. 2 is a' view similart o Fig.1, but show'- ing the oil thief subsequent to its release. r p

Fig. 3 isan enlarged vertical medial sectional view of the oil thief as illustrated in Fig. 2, portions of the figure. being broken away to reduce its length.

Fig. 4 is-a horizontal sectional view-taken w upon the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, with thedirection of view as indicated.

Fig.- 5isan enlarged vie-wof a portion of l the oilthief, showing the manner of interengagement of the detent with the means for holding the barrel elevated.

In terms of-broad of the present invention comprises a plunger"provided with means for lowering it into the container whose contents are to be'sampled, and'a barrelreciprocably mounted upon -said plunger, there being means interposed between the barreland thepl unger for holding the barrel elevated with respect thereto until such time as the operator desires to re lease the holding means and permit'the barrel to drop so'as to'entrap' a portion of the-cone tents of the fluid within which the device is' immersed. Upon completion of thedown ward motion of the barrel with respect. to the plunger its open end seats upon'a valve adapted to close that'end so as to prevent leakage ofthe sample from the barrel when the device is removed from the'container. Means are provided for positively drawing the fluid intothe open lower end of the barrel' during downward motion thereof, and additional means are employed for positively expelling the contents of the barrel in such a manner as to effectuallykwipe theinteriorh surface of the barrel and thus remove substantially all of those portions 'of the sample 7 which tendto adhere thereto. The plunger is provided with an extension whereby the-operator is warned when the device has been 'nclusion, the oil thief lowered to a predetermined distance from the bottom of the tank, thereby preventing danger of lowering the device into the sludge which frequently is present i storage tanks, it being understood that it is desirable under most circumstances to take samples of the oil without any of the sludge in suspension therein. However, this extension of the barrel is removable, so as to per- 1 mit sampling the sludge itself if desired. The means for releasing the barrel 'topermit-it to drop and thus entrap a sample of the oil is in the form of a tube slidable upon the suspending means, which may be dropped thereupon after the sampler has been lowered to the desireddepth within the tank, and thus release the means whereby the barrel is held elevated upon its plunger. r More specifically, the oil thief of my invention comprises a plunger, indicated in its entirety at 6, this plunger including a rod 7 having an eye 8, preferably-.removably secured to its upper'end. For this purpose, the eye 8 is formed in a ferrule 9 threadedly receivable upon the upper end of the rod 'i'.

The eye 8 provides convenient means for attaching a suspending member such as a cord 11 thereto, this suspending means being provided with preferably a spring snap 12 which 80 may beattached to the eye 8 and disengaged therefrom substantiallyinstantaneously.

A barrel 16 encircles the-plunger 6 and is reciprocably mounted thereupon through the expedient of a guide bushing 17 held at a 8 material distance above the upper end of the barrel 16 by a plurality of brackets 18. Both ends of the barrel 16 are open,coinmunication between the interior of the barrel 16 and the, exterior thereof by way of its open end being established between the several brackets 18. The rod 7 ofthe plunger 6 carries a pair of opposed cup-washers 21'and 22, separated by preferably a pair of disks 23 and 24, although if desired a single disk may be employed, the thickness of which is equal to the total thickness of the two disks 23 and 24, so as to hold the two c-up-washers21 and 22 spaced properly. These cup-washers 21 and 22 are reinforced by external disks 26 and 27, respectively, the entire assembly of disks and cup-washers being compressed between a pair of spaced nuts 28 and 29 threaded onto the rod 7. g A preferably tapered valve seat 31 is formed at the lower end of the barrel 16, en-

circling the opening 32 therein, whereby com munication is established with the interior of the barrel. Cooperative with this valve seat 31 is a valve 33 in the form of a head 0- rigidly'mounted upon the rod 7 in any suitable manner. The parts are so proportioned and arranged that when the barrel 16 drops to its lowest extreme of movement with respect tothe plunger 6 the seat 31 will engage upon the valve 33 and effectually close the at the bottom of oil lower end 32 of the barrel 16, so as to prevent leakage therepast of any liquid entrapped within the barrel 16.

Means are provided for holding the barrel 16 elevated, i. e., at its uppermost extreme of movement with respect to the plunger 6, until the operatordesires to actuate the device. A detent 36 is pivotally mounted upon the annulus 37 within which the bushing 17 is rigidly secured, this annulus 37 preferably being integral with the several brackets 18. Preferably, a pair of spaced lugs 38 extend V laterally from the annulus 37, with the detent 36 pivotally mounted therebetween by means of a pivot pin 39. The upper end of the detent 36 is defined by an edge 41 which inclines upwards and. outwards,.this edge41 terminating in a relatively sharp point 42 atthe intersection of the edge 41 with a shoulder 43, which is adapted to engage over an annular flange 44 carried by the-rod 7 of the plunger 6. Thisflange44 is preferably a cup-shaped washer clamped between the ferrule 9 and a nut v46 threaded upon therod 7 in such position that when the shoulder 43 of the detent 36 is engagedin this manner with the flange 44 the barrel'16 will be retained thereby in its upper extreme: of movement upon the plunger 6. a In view of the fact that the flange 44 is annular and continuous throughout 360, the detent 36 can be engaged therewith, without having. to rotate the barrel 16 to any special position with respect to theplunger 6. Moreover, the pin 39, whereby the detent 36 is pivoted upon the lugs 38, is disposed below, and at a greater distance from the axis of the entire device, than the center of gravity of the detent 36, with the result that the detent is continually urged by gravity so-as to swing its upper end inwards, i. e., toward the left, as viewed upon Figs. 3 and 5. A projection 47 on the lower end of the detent 36 is adapted to engage one of the brackets 18 and prevent the detent from swinging outwards so as to move the center of pin 39;

gravity thereof beyond the pivot A tubular trip 51 is slidably mount-ed upon thecord 11, being. of such dimensions that it is adapted to slip downwards thereupon past the clip 12 and ferrule 9, so as to permit the lower end 52 of the trip 51 to engage the inclined upper edge 41 of the detent 36, forcing the'detent outwards to disengage it from the flange 44. Obviously, when such disengagement occurs the barrel 16 will be permitted to drop until the valve seat 31 at its lower end seats upon the valve 33. The lower end 52of the trip 51 is expanded to define a bell mouth, the purpose being to prevent the possibility of cutting or abrading the cord 11 by the relatively sharp edge which might otherwisebe present at the lower end of the trip 51. Furthermore, this bell mouth facilita'tes the tubular trip 51 in dropping past the obstructions offered by the clip 8 and ferrule 9.

Means are providedfor indicatingrto the operator when the oil thief has been lowered to a predetermined distance from the bottom 56 of a tank 57, or other receptacle the liquid contents 58 of which are to be sampled. For this purpose a pin 59 is removably attached to the lower end of the rod 7 of the plunger 6. Preferably, the pin 59 has a socket 61 rigidly secured to its upper end and threadedly engageable upon the lower end 62 of the rod 7 which extends through the valve 33. The purpose of employing this pin 59 is to provide a relatively small projection at the lower end of the oil thief which is capable of penetrating the sludge 63 frequently present at the bottom of an oil tank 57 so as to warn the operator when the oil thief has been lowered to a position adjacent the bottom 56- of the tank 57 but clear of the sludge 63. In view of the fact that the pin 59 is of relatively small cross sectional area, it is capable of penetrating the sludge 63 without causing undue agitation thereof, with the result that when the trip 51 is dropped to release the de tent 36 the barrel 16 will be permitted to drop, thereby entrapping a quantityof the liquid contents 58 of the tank 57 containing little or none of the sludge 63, which would not be the case if the oil thief were lowered until the valve 33 made contact with and penetrated the sludge 63. Even if the oil thief were elevated after such penetration by the valve 33 of the sludge 63, the sludge would be so agitated that at least some of it would in all probability be present in that portion of the oil or other liquid contents 58 of the tank that a true sample could not be obtained.

Obviously, the device maybe employed to take samples of the contents of a container in lowering the device into the tank, and after the desired depth has been attained he should then release the tubular trip 51, which v will disengage the detent 36 in the manner explained hereinabove, thereby actuating the oil thief to take its sample.

Owing to the presence of the cup-washer operate to retain the entrapped liquid with ing the barrel 16. even after the oil thief has been withdrawn from the tank 57. However, when it is desired to release the sample from the barrel 16,it is necessary merely to raise the barrel upon the plunger, whereupon the cup-washer'21v will positively drive the-contents ofthe'b'arrel therefrom, effectually wip- V ing the interior surface of the barrel 16to re-C' of the oilthief of the present invention lies in theabsence of agitation of "the liquid 58 being sampledupon actuation of the, sampling device. When the barrel 16 drops, the

liquid both inside and outside thereofire mains stationary and the barrel .16 merely moves downwardswith respect thereto, and with respect to the plunger 6. The cross sectional area of the walls of the barrelpl6 is relatively small, with the result that substantially no motion of the liquid is caused by this motion of the barrel, which, of course, is

conducive to taking a more accurate sample.

The relatively small sizeof the entire device 1 is also of importance, inasmuch as it permits lowering the oil thief into a'tank 57: or other container. through a relatively small aperture in the topof that container.

It is'to'be understood that thedetails o to alteration Within the spirit or scope of th ppended claims. 4

I claim:

plunger, suspending means connected thereto, a barrel encirchng said plunger and reciprocably mounted thereupon, a detent piv- V otally mounted on said barrel, means on said .1

plunger engageable by said detent to hold said barrel elevated with respect to said plunger, and means slidable on said suspending means for-releasing said detent, said detent being mounted for pivotal movement about an axis spaced further from said en- "gageable means than the center of gravity of said detent in its extreme released position, whereby the detent is continually urged toward engaging position by gravity. 9

2. A sample taking device, comprising 'a plunger, suspending means connected thereto, a barrel encircling said plunger and reciprocably mounted thereupon, a detent pivotally mounted on said barrel and having an upper edge inclining upwards and-outwards, means on said plunger engageable by said detent to hold said barrel elevated with re spect to said plunger, and a tubular trip'slidable upon said suspending means and engagethe invention as herein disclosed, are subject I 1. A sample taking device, comprising a i able with 'said inclined edge tomove the detent from engaging position when the trip is dropped upon said suspending means.

3. A sample taking device, comprising a 15. plunger, suspending means connected thereto a barrel' encircling said plunger and reciprocably mounted thereupon, a detent pivma mounted on said barrel and having an upper edge inclining upwards. and'outwards, means on'said plunger engageable by said detent to hold said barrel elevated with respect to said plunger,and a tubular trip slidable upon said'suspending means and engageable with said inclined edge to move the detent from engaging position when the trip is dropped upon said suspending means, the lower end of said trip being expanded to define a bell mouth. i

4. Asample taking device, comprising a plunger, suspending means connected thereto, a barrel encircling said plunger and reciprocably mounted thereupon, adetent pivotally mounted on said barrel and having an upper edge inclining upwards and outwards, a continuous annular flange on said plunger engageable at any portion of the periphery thereof by said detent to hold said barrel elevated with respect to said plunger, and a tubular trip slidable upon said suspending means and engageable with said inclined edge to move the detent from engaging position when the trip is dropped upon said suspending means.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

, I OSCAR W. PEARCE. 

